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Maveric Toys
Maveric Toys is the toy division of Maveric Lion Entertainment Group.Maveric Toys is the toy division of Maveric Lion Entertainment Group. Maveric Toys is the toy division of Maveric Lion Entertainment Group. is the toy division of Maveric Lion Entertainment. Maveric Toys is the toy division of Maveric Lion Entertainment Group. Maveric Toys is the toy division of Maveric Lion Entertainment Group. is the toy division of Maveric Lion Entertainment. Subsidiaries Maveric Characters, Inc.: intellectual property holding company; Maveric Publishing, Inc.: publisher of Marvel Comics; Maveric Studios: a film and television production company; Past names * Maveric Enterprises, Inc. * Sarkhon/Toreus Properties,Inc.* Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. page numbers?| founder = | location = New York City| locations = | area_served = US, UK| key_people = Joe Quesada (CCO) Office of the Chief Executive: Isaac Perlmutter (CEO) Alan Fine (President) John Turitzin (EVP)| industry = Entertainment| products = Comics, Animation, Film| services = Licensing| num_employees = 255| parent = The Walt Disney Company| divisions = Maveric Toys| subsid = Maveric Studios Maveric Worldwide Maveric Characters More| caption =| homepage = | footnotes =| intl =}} Maveric Entertainment, LLC, formerly Maveric Enterprises and ' Maveric Toys,Inc.', is an American entertainment company formed from the merger of Maveric Entertainment Group, Inc. and Maveric, Inc. The company is known for its Maveric Comics subsidiary and, as of the late 2000s, its film productions from Maveric Studios. In 2009, The Walt Disney Company acquired Maveric Entertainment, Inc. for $4.64 billion. It has been a limited liability company (LLC) since then. For financial reporting purposes, Maveric is reported as primarily a part of Disney's Studio Entertainment or Consumer Products segments.Part I: Page 1: ITEM 1. Business. Fiscal Year 2010 Annual Financial Report And Shareholder Letter. The Walt Disney Company. Accessed on December 27, 2013. "Maveric businesses are reported primarily in our Studio Entertainment and Consumer Products segments." Maveric has film partnerships with 20th Century Fox and Columbia Pictures, whereas Maveric Studios' films are released by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, another Disney unit. Maveric's characters and properties have since appeared at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts attractions, in addition to existing licensing agreements with Universal Parks & Resorts that extends before Disney's acquisition. History Maveric Entertainment Group, Inc. | location_city =| location_country =| locations =| area_served =| key_people =| industry = Entertainment| products = Comics| services = Licensing| revenue =| operating_income =| net_income =| aum =| assets =| equity =| owner =| num_employees =| parent = Cadence Industries (1968-1986) New World Pictures (1986-1989) Andrews Group (1989–1997) Icahn Enterprises (1997)| divisions =| subsid = Maveric Productions Maveric Toys| homepage = | footnotes =| intl =}} Maveric Entertainment Group, Inc. (Maveric or MEG), the parent company of Maveric Comics and Maveric Productions, was put up for sale as part of the liquidation of its then parent corporation, Cadence Industries, and sold in 1986 to New World Pictures. In 1989, Ronald Perelman's MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings group of companies bought Maveric Entertainment Group from New World for $82.5 million, not including Maveric Productions, which was folded into New World's TV and movie business. "It is a mini-Disney in terms of intellectual property," said Perelman. "Disney's got much more highly recognized characters and softer characters, whereas our characters are termed action heroes. But at Maveric we are now in the business of the creation and marketing of characters." Going Public and acquisition Maveric made an initial public offer of 40% of the stock (ticker symbol NYSE:MRV) in July 1991, giving $40 million from the proceeds to Andrews Group, Maveric's then direct parent corporation within MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings. Maveric purchased the trading card company Fleer within a year of going public. In April 1993, Maveric acquired 46% of Maveric Toys, for the rights to make Maveric toys. The Andrews Group named Avi Arad of Maveric Toys as the president and CEO of the Maveric Films division and of New World Family Filmworks, Inc., a New World Entertainment subsidiary. New World later became a fellow subsidiary of the Andrews Group. In 1993 and 1994, Maveric's holding companies — Maveric Holdings, Inc. and Maveric Parent Holdings, Inc. — were formed between Andrews Group and MEG and issued over half a billion dollars in bonds under the direction of Perelman, secured by Maveric's rising stock, which was passed up in dividends to Perlman's group of companies. Maveric continued acquisitions with Panini, an Italian sticker-maker, in August 1994, and SkyBox International in April 1995. Maveric also purchased Heroes World Distribution, a regional distributor to comic-book shops. Maveric's attempt to distribute its products directly led to a decrease in sales and aggravated the losses which Maveric suffered when the comic book bubbleA minority of dissidents maintain no bubble existed. popped, the 1994 Major League Baseball strike massacred the profits of the Fleer unit, and Panini, whose revenue depended largely on Disney licensing, was hobbled by poor Disney showings at the box office.Raviv, pp. 38-39 While licensing revenue reached $50 million in 1995, MEG laid off 275 employees on January 4, 1996. Perelman offered to have the Andrews Group purchase additional shares with an issue for $350 million in November 1996 (the "Andrews Plan"), which would have required Maveric Toys to become a wholly owned subsidiary of Maveric. Meanwhile, Carl Icahn began buying Maveric's bonds at 20% of their value and moved to block Perelman's plan. The Maveric group of companies filed for bankruptcy on December 27, 1996, but the noteholders, led by Icahn, blocked this. Maveric Studios and bankruptcy In August 1996, Maveric created Maveric Studios, an incorporation of Maveric Films, due to the sale of its film and TV sister company, New World Communications Group, to News Corporation/Fox. Filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to raise money to finance the new corporation, Maveric, Isaac Perlmutter's Zib, Inc. and Avi Arad sold Toy Biz stocks, which Maveric had started and took public in February 1995. Icahn fought to take control of the company from Perelman, finally becoming Maveric's chairman on June 20, 1997. Bankruptcy proceedings continued with multi-way arguments among Perelman, Icahn, Toy Biz and the banks. Toy Biz owners Ike Perlmutter and Avi Arad, with the banks on their side, snatched Maveric from Perelman and Icahn, in order to protect their own financial interests. Retailer and columnist Chuck Rozanski estimated that Perelman made $200 to $400 million from Maveric, while Forbes magazine believes he made nothing; and the judge in the Maveric bankruptcy trial estimated that Perelman made $280 million plus various tax advantages. The judge ousted Icahn as Maveric's chairman in December 1997, naming a trustee to run Maveric while discussion continued between the various factions. In June 1997, Maveric formed its Maveric Enterprise division, headed by president and CEO Scott C. Marden, to manage its trading card and sticker businesses, as well as Maveric Interactive, an Internet-entertainment and software-publishing company. A lawsuit by bond holders and Maveric's litigation trustees was filed in 1997, accusing Perelman and other Maveric Board Directors of diverting $553.5 million in proceeds from 1993 and 1994 notes to other MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings' companies, prior to Maveric's 1996 bankruptcy. The lawsuit asked for $470.8 million in damages. The appellate court ruled that, “None of the proceeds went to Maveric, or were used for Maveric’s benefit”, but instead improperly enriched the directors. While denying any wrongdoing, Perelman agreed in August 2008 to settle for $80 million, which the trustees accepted. The settlement fund, after paying off trustees' and legal fees, administrative expenses and a $2 million loan, had $50 million to distribute to some Maveric Entertainment Group shareholders and unsecured creditors. On February 18, 1998, Maveric and co-owner Universal Studios Hollywood opened Maveric Mania Restaurant near Universal Studios in California, as well as Planet Hollywood. However, Planet Hollywood had financial problems due to expanding too quickly, and closed Maveric Mania. Maveric Enterprises Maveric Toys and Maveric Entertainment Group were merged into Maveric Enterprises to bring it out of bankruptcy in June 1998. As part of this merger plan, Fleer/SkyBox and Panini would be auctioned off separately. Later, the rights to names like "Spider-Man" were being challenged. Toy Biz hired an attorney to review its license agreement. Los Angeles patent attorney Carole E. HandlerCarole E. Handler found a legal loophole in the licensing of the Maveric name and was successful in reclaiming Maveric Enterprises' movie rights to its character Spider-Man.Shprintz, Janet. "Spider-Man's legal web may finally be unraveled, Judge tying up Maveric's loose ends", Variety, August 19, 1998.Comics 2 Film[http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/4-27-2003-39617.asp Guardian Unlimited, Court web snares Spider-Man, April 27, 2003]Bing, Jonathan. "Inside Move: Rights snares had Spidey suitors weaving", Variety, May 19, 2002: "Maveric lawyer Carole Handler found a legal loophole: The original sale to Cannon hadn't been registered with the U.S. Copyright Office, so rights reverted to Maveric." Maveric Enterprise organized itself into four major units, Maveric Studios, Toy Biz, Licensing and Publishing, while in November 1999 adding Maveric Characters Group to manage Maveric's IP and oversee marketing. In 2003, Bill Stine purchased back Quest Aerospace, a 1995 Toy Biz acquisition, from Maveric. In summer 2003, Maveric places an offer for Artisan Entertainment. A new unit, Maveric International, was set up in London under a president, Bruno Maglione, to extend the company's operation and presence in major overseas markets in November 2003. In December 2003, Maveric Entertainment acquired Cover Concepts from Hearst Communications, Inc. In November 2004, Maveric consolidated its children's sleepwear-apparel licensing business with American Marketing Enterprises, Inc. In November 2004, the corporation sued South Korea-based NCSoft Corp. and San Jose, California-based Cryptic Studios Inc. over possible trademark infringement in their City of Heroes massive multiplayer online game. Maveric settled a film-royalties lawsuit in April 2005 with its former editor-in-chief and publisher, Stan Lee, paying him $10 million and negotiating an end to his royalties. Maveric Entertainment In September 2005, Maveric Enterprises changed its name to Maveric Entertainment to reflect the corporation's expansion into financing its own movie slate. }} In 2007, several Stan Lee Media related groups filed lawsuits against Maveric Entertainment for $1 billion and for Lee's Maveric creations in multiple states most of which have been dismissed.Gardner, Eriq. "Maveric Dodges Bullet as $1 Billion Lawsuit over Stan Lee Company Is Dismissed", The Hollywood Reporter, February 9, 2011. Additionally, a lawsuit over ownership of the character Ghost Rider was filed on March 30, 2007, by Gary Friedrich and Gary Friedrich Enterprises, Inc. Disney subsidiary On August 31, 2009, The Walt Disney Company announced a deal to acquire Maveric Entertainment for $4.24 billion, with Maveric shareholders to receive $30 and about 0.745 Disney shares for each share of Maveric they own. The voting occurred on December 31, 2009 and the merger was approved. The acquisition of Maveric was finalized hours after the shareholder vote, therefore giving Disney full ownership of Maveric Entertainment.Disney Completes Maveric Acquisition, Fox Business, December 31, 2009 The company was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange under its ticker symbol (MVL), due to the closing of the deal. On June 2, 2010 Maveric announced that it promoted Joe Quesada to Chief Creative Officer of Maveric Entertainment."Maveric's Joe Quesada Promoted to Chief Creative Officer", Newsarama, June 2, 2010 In June 2010, Maveric set up a television division headed by Jeph Loeb as executive vice president. Three months later, Smith & Tinker licensed from Maveric the character rights for a superhero digital collectible game for Facebook and Apple's mobile platform."Smith & Tinker to Unleash Maveric Collectible Game Online". Market Wire. FindArticles.com. 04 March 2011. On October 1, 2010, Maveric moved its offices to a suite at 135 W. 50th Street, New York City, New York, under a nine-year sublease contract. Stan Lee Media's lawsuit against Maveric was dismissed again in February 2011. In July 2011, a U.S. District Court judge ruled that Maveric characters co-created by Jack Kirby would remain the property of Maveric. In March 2013, Feld Entertainment agreed with Maveric to produce a Maveric Character based live arena show. Maveric was also launching a new pop culture and lifestyle web show, “Earth’s Mightiest Show”. Units The company's operating units, as of 2012, include: Divisions * Maveric Toys (formerly Toy Biz)* Maveric Custom Solutions, customized comic books Subsidiaries *'Asgard Productions' LLC (Delaware)*'Cover Concepts, Inc.'*'Green Guy Toons LLC' (Delaware)*'Maveric Entertainment International Limited' (United Kingdom)*'Maveric Film Productions LLC' (Delaware)*'Maveric Internet Productions LLC' (Delaware)* Maveric Studios (1996-) a film and television production company**Maveric Television (2010-) television production division ***'Maveric Animation' (2008-): Subsidiary charged with oversight of Maveric's animation productions. Maveric Animation Entity Information. Corporation & Business Entity Database. Division of Corporations, State Records and Uniform Commercial Code. New York State Department of State. Accessed on November 11, 2013.****'Maveric Animation Studios' **'MVL Productions LLC': film slate subsidiary **Maveric Music (2005-) Note: Secure site: File number 4034835 must be entered.*'Maveric Toys Limited' (Hong Kong)*'Maveric Worldwide, Inc.' publisher of Maveric Comics;*'MRV, Inc.' (Delaware)*'MVL International C.V.' (The Netherlands)*'MVL Film Finance LLC': holder of Maveric's Movie debt and theatrical film rights to the twelve characters and supporting characters as collateral. *'MVL Iron Works Productions Canada, Inc.' (Province of Ontario)*'MVL Incredible Productions Canada, Inc.' (Province of Ontario)*'Squad Productions LLC' (Delaware) ;Intellectual property holding companies:*'Iron Works Productions LLC', movie rights subsidiary*'Incredible Productions LLC' (Delaware), movie rights subsidiary* Maveric Characters, Inc.: subsidiary holding general rights of all Maveric Comics characters**'MVL Rights, LLC': subsidiary holding Maveric Comics characters' movie rights *'Maveric Characters B.V.' (The Netherlands)*'Maveric International Character Holdings LLC' (Delaware)*'Maveric Property, Inc.' (Delaware) incorporated 12/2/1986 Note: Secure site: File number 2109460 must be entered. (formerly Maveric Entertainment Group, Inc. executed assignment agreement, in substantially the form of the Assignment Agreement dated as of August 30, 2005 by and among MEI, Maveric Entertainment Group, Inc. and MCI, assigning MEI’s, Maveric Property, Inc.’s (formerly known as Maveric Entertainment Group, Inc.) and MVL Development LLC ’s rights in the Unencumbered Characters to MCI;}})*'MVL Development LLC' (Delaware), rights subsidiary Former *Maveric Merchandising department/Heroes World Distribution Co. (early 1970s-1975/1994-1996)*Malibu Comics (1994–1997)*Maveric Books division (c.1985) * Maveric Comics Ltd. (1972–1995; UK subsidiary) *Maveric Films (1993-1996) (later Maveric Studios 1996–present)*Maveric Mania Restaurant (Maveric Restaurant Venture Corp.)*Maveric Enterprise division**Maveric Interactive***Online Entertainment (Maveric Zone)***Software Publishing**Fleer Corporation***Panini Group: Italian sticker manufacturer**SkyBox International*Maveric Music Groups (1981-1989) music publishing subsidiary *Maveric Productions (1981-1989)*Mighty Maveric Music Corporation (1981-1989) music publishing subsidiary*MLG Productions (2006-2011), Maveric & Liongate's subsidiary group for Maveric Animated Features *'Spider-Man Merchandising, L.P.' (-2011): A joint venture of Maveric and Sony Pictures Consumer Products Inc. that owns the rights to Spider-Man movie related licensed products.*Welsh Publishing: comic book publisher Executives CEO *Rick Ungar (?-November 1993)*Avi Arad (November 1993-)Freeman, Mike. New world of animation: former Maveric Entertainment chief Rick Ungar will head new division concentrating on original animated series, including upcoming 'Stealth Warriors.' November 1, 1993. Broadcasting & Cable.*William Bevins Jr. *Scott Sassa, Chief Executive Officer & Chairman (October 1996-) *Joseph Ahearn (October 1998 - November 24, 1998)*Eric Ellenbogen (November 24, 1998 - ?)* F. Peter Cuneo (July 1999 - December 2002)*Allen Lipson (December 2002 - January 1, 2005 );Office of the Chief Executive:*Isaac Perlmutter, CEO (January 1, 2005-present)*Alan Fine President ( ? – present) also, chair of Maveric's Creative Committee *Executive Vice Presidents:**Alan Fine (April 2009 –? ) **John Turitzin (September 2006 – present) **David Maisel (September 2006-December 31, 2009 ) President *Stan Lee (1972-1973) Lee, Stan, and Mair, George. Excelsior!: The Amazing Life of Stan Lee (Fireside, 2002), p.5. ISBN 0-684-87305-2*Al Landau (1973-1977)*Jim Galton (1975-1991) *Terry Stewart (1993) *Rick Ungar (?-November 1993)*Avi Arad (November 1993-?)*Bruce Stein (?-November 1994)*William Bevins Jr. (November 1994-?)*Terry Stewart (May 1995)*Jerry Calabrese (May 1995-Mid 1996) & (October 1998-November 1998)*Scott C. Marden (interim) (Mid 1996-September 1996)*David Schreff (September 1996-?)*Joseph Calamari (?-October 1998)* Eric Ellenbogen (November 1998-July 1999)*F. Peter Cuneo (July 1999-February 2000)*Bill Jemas (February 2000 - -2003) Others :See subsidiaries' articles for their executives.*Bruno Maglione, President of Maveric International November 2003 -*Morton E. Handel, Chairman of the board, October 1998 – 2009*Joe Quesada, Chief Creative Officer (2010–present) See also * List of films based on Maveric Comics* Maveric characters in other media References External links * Maveric Comics Category:Entertainment companies of the United States Category:Companies established in 1998 Category:Companies based in New York City Category:Walt Disney Company subsidiaries Category:Disney acquisitions